Endless Summer Hydrangea

These guys entered the market, taking on the “Bloom Once, and flop over like a dead bird” Hydrangea’s, and not surprisngly, they did well.  Let’s state it right here, these Hydrangea’s dont flop over like day old bread, and they bloom “endlessly” all summer!

Where to Buy “Endless Summer” Hydrangea’s?

Monrovia sells excellent plants.  They carry the Endless Summer / Summer Endless variety, even some of the newer varieties like “Blushing Bride”.  You can purchase them from here.

Michael Dirr's book on "Endless Summer" Hydrangea

Reference Material

The most amazing book on Hydrangea’s has to be Michael Dirr’s book on Hydrangeas.  First he travels the Earth researching various varieties.  Then he writes a 200 page book on the different qualities and aspects of Hydrangeas.  The photos are gorgeous, but the info in the book is even more amazing.  His love of Hydrangeas comes out on every page, and makes the reader feel the same.  Well worth the $20 odd dollars it costs.

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Initial Purchase

View at Picasa 25-Jul-2009 18:18, NIKON CORPORATION NIKON D60, 5.6, 55.0mm, 0.017 sec, ISO 200

I planted 3 Endless Summer Hydrangeas last summer.  Unfortunately, making the mistake of paying $5 at Walmart, to buy the half-dead, dehydrated sale plants.  They were browning and struggling.  I picked them up anyway, thinking I could save them.  Surprisingly, they responded to the water and care, and gave me some nice blooms.  You can see in the attached photo that they were giving blooms the first year…even when treated badly.

After the first Year

Winter came, (and mind you, we had the mildest winter on record ever in Ontario)  and come Spring, 1 Endless Summer was just dead, the other 2 put up very small buds, and wouldn’t grow.  Rumor had it that the constant thaw / freeze caused excessive ice formation in the soil, killing the plants.  You can see in the photos, the tiny buds that indicate some life.  But they were struggling

View at Picasa 29-May-2010 15:51, NIKON CORPORATION NIKON D60, 9.0, 26.0mm, 0.008 sec, ISO 200

After 10 weeks into summer, I gave up on plant#2 and pulled it out. This time, I went to an actual Nursery and paid good money for some nice varieties that were blooming and growing well.  The third plant lingered as a small bloom, but then finally, in July, it started to grow and bloom.  You can see it in the photos below, it is the pink plant.

View at Picasa 26-Jun-2010 13:49, NIKON CORPORATION NIKON D60, 8.0, 200.0mm, 0.008 sec, ISO 125

View at Picasa 26-Jun-2010 13:49, NIKON CORPORATION NIKON D60, 8.0, 200.0mm, 0.008 sec, ISO 110

View at Picasa 26-Jun-2010 13:47, NIKON CORPORATION NIKON D60, 8.0, 200.0mm, 0.008 sec, ISO 110

Conclusion

View at Picasa 26-Jun-2010 13:48, NIKON CORPORATION NIKON D60, 8.0, 200.0mm, 0.008 sec, ISO 110

View at Picasa 26-Jun-2010 13:48, NIKON CORPORATION NIKON D60, 8.0, 200.0mm, 0.008 sec, ISO 125

In the end, I’m happy with these plants. They grow well, bloom right away and look great. The Endless Summer variety are extra hardy and blooming, so I always look for these. And their awesome colors are, well, awesome.

Hydrangea Paniculata “Grandiflora” Planted: Aug 2008.

1. Year 1 – Just Bought, awaiting their final abode.

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1. Year 2 -June 2009

The plants had been in for about a year, but I was ignoring them.  The marketing wing of “Proven Winners” was too strong and I almost wished these plain white PG’s would die.

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1. Year 3 – June 2010

But Lo and Behold, these bad boys held on, and for a good run as well.  In their third year, they’ve withstood drought and neglect.  Not to mention they mesh together beautifully, making an excellent hedge specimen.  I am waiting for these to bloom later in the year.  (I Believe it’s fall).

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